Skeeter Mead

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Atek

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I started this thread due to some discussions on the skeeter pee thread. I will be doing some testing of implementing and mead variation of the skeeter pee lemon wine. There seemed to be some interest in this so anyone else currently making a skeeter mead or planning to please don't e shy :)
 
Atek and I were talking about this in the skeeter pee thread and I have wanted to do it since I have bottled my last Skeeter Pee. First I need to start geting my braggot, ginger mead, green apple mead & sake to bottles before I start this but here is my plan.

In the original recipe you need to start this with a yeast slurry rather than making a simple starter or pitching fresh yeast because it is hard to ferment right & with the substitution of honey for sugar the PH will be lower than the original SP recipe so this is even more important.

I will make a starter wine and allow it to clear over 1 - 2 months to get a nice yeast cake to siphon off of. Here is the wine I will throw together:

1 gallon white grape peach

4 cans of Welch's White grape peach concentrate.
1 TBS black tea
1 tsp DAP
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
Water to a gallon
Yeast: Lalvin 71b

When I have the wine racked off of the yeast in that I will start the Skeeter Pee. I converted the sugar amount to honey using the GotMead.com calculator. I also do the recipe a little different and don't use grape tannin. Rather I use Black tea so here is the recipe for the SP:

3 bottles of 32 oz 100% lemon juice (e.g ReaLemon in the green plastic bottles or equivalent)
8.75 lbs honey
1 tbs black tea
6 tsp. yeast nutrient (3 now, 3 later)
2 tsp. yeast energizer (1 now, 1 later)
Approx, 4 1/2 gallons water
Yeast Slurry
Potassium metabisulfite (Camden Tablets)
Potassium sorbate (sorbate)
2 1/3 lbs sugar (or 6 cups) to sweeten finished Skeeter Pee. Use more or less for your tastes.

Directions for putting this together is at http://www.skeeterpee.com

This should yield an OG of around 1.07 & be at around 10% ABV when done. Here within the month I will probably start this.
 
Ok, I am just waiting for the time to do this. I will be deviating from the traditional method so I'm pretty excited to see how our two results differ. My plan goes as follows:

I will make a traditional mead -
9lbs honey (easier to measure out than the calculated sugar equivalent of 8.75lbs)
3/4 tsp tannin
3 tsp nutrient
water to 5 gal
ec-1118
OG 1.064 = 8.72% ABV

After fermentation I will add the 96oz lemon juice and stabilize. I will let this sit until clear, or for 2-3 weeks then use a fining agent. Once clear I will rack and back sweeten with 3.5lbs honey.
 
Ha when I copied and pasted the recipe from the SP web sight I forgot to change that I will back sweeten with honey. So I will use 3.5 lb of honey just like Atek.
 
Ok I have started this project off. I am getting my Starter wine ready so I can rack off the yeast slurry to use in the skeeter mead.The recipe I used is as follows:

4 cans of Welch's White grape peach concentrate.
1 TBS black tea (Stash brand Earl Grey)
1 tsp DAP
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
Water to a gallon
Yeast: Lalvin 71b

I mixed it all together lack the pectic enzyme and added a crushed camden tablet. 14 hours later I added the pectic enzyme. 12 hours after that I took a gravity reading, removed about a half cup of must to add head space in case the yeast get too active and blow out the airlock. I will add that half cup back after 2 - 3 days when it calms down. Sprinkled 5g of the 71b yeast right on top without stiring. Left alone for 15 min and then placed airlock.

Gravity ended up at 1.08
Potential ABV of finished product is 11% ABV

I will let this go for 30 days or untill fermentation stops. Throw it in the fridge and allow yeast to settle over a period of a week. Rack and then use slurry for skeeter mead.
 
Sweet! I'd better get started soon myself!
 
Hey even if you start a month out you are ahead of me. I am just preparing the yeast right now. You will have a pack of 1118 yeast that will start off fast with only 15 minutes to rehydrate it. My method will take 5-6 weeks before I can pitch the yeast lol.
 
The White grape peach wine has been in the fridge over the last several days and is super super clear with about an inch of lees. This recipe really put out a healthy yeast colony so I am thinking it will work out well. The wine smells awesome too so can't wait to taste it. Next Friday the 1st is pay day so I will get the Lemon juice and Honey then and start this next weekend.
 
Awesome! As soon as I can nab me one more Carboy I'll be getting mine started. I have the honey and everything just a waitin... :)
 
Ok, so I started mine today, just used my 6gal carboy since it'll be in primary for a while I should have another carboy by then for transferring. My notes are as follows:

10lb Costco Clover Honey
3tsp Nutrient/Energizer mix (proprietary from my LHBS, works really well though)
Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast

Warmed honey in original containers via double boiler to loosen it up. Added honey and nutrient to carboy. Watered to 5 gal. Made 1 cup starter with 2TBSP sucrose for the yeast (likely wasn't necessary), Aerated with lees stirrer and drill. Took OG reading of 1.070 then added nice and foamy starter.

As I mentioned previously I will be adding the lemon juice once gravity hits 1 or less, at which point I will also stabilize and let clear. Once clear I will backsweeten with a varietal honey I have yet to choose, suggestions are welcome. I have fairly easy access to tupelo and acaia honey.
 
OK I started mine today, I used my 5 gal better bottle for my batch. My notes are as follows:

8lb 12oz Sams club clover honey
3tsp Dap
1tsp Energizer
1TBS Black tea to replace tannin in original recipe
2 32 oz Walmart brand "Real Lemon" juice from the green bottles

I did not heat my honey at all just spent about 10 min dripping from the containers into the Carboy, added tea nutrients and lemon juice. I shook the He** out of it for a bit till the honey was as dissolved as it would be in that little liquid and then added about 3/4 of a gallon at a time taking 2 minute intervals of shaking to dissolve the honey more and more as I added water. I stopped at about 4 ½ gal since this is a 5 gallon carboy and I still have to add yeast slurry. I will measure gravity tomorrow after I pitch yeast and top off to just about 5 gallons.

I have siphoned off the White grape peach starter wine and am letting the lees come back to room temp overnight and through tomorrow. Tomorrow evening I will pitch the yeast and let her rip. At the 1.05 gravity mark I will add a second dose of nutrients (3tsp DAP, 1tsp energizer) & the third bottle of lemon juice. Once this clears I will stabilize and back sweeten with honey to match Atek. We will see how it goes.


**Edit**

Just in case anyone was interested in the white grape peach wine. I got 4 750ml botlles all crystal clear and a 3/4 glass of wine that was a little cloudy due to some yeast kicking up. Tested gravity and it ended at about 1.004. Taste test of the glass was like biting into a raw peach. a little yeasty flavor on the back end but that was expected. Man this stuff is nice. Can't wait for a little age to hit these bottles.
 
Fun developement!

Checkd on the must this morning since it is in the 241 hour rest to help dissapate the preservatives in the lemon juice and it looks like they high acid enviroment of the must is seperating the proteins in the honey. So now I have these little gelatinous balls floating about in the must. Tonight it will need some definate whipping from the wine whip.
 
OK so I was not able to get to the must last night for several reasons. So this morning 03/02 at 1000 CST I added my yeast slurry to the must.

I first took out my home made wine whip and chucked it into my drill to spin/mix up the must for 2 minutes in both directions. I then added the yeast slurry. I mixed the must for another minute. Took a gravity reading and I showed 1.064. Hmmm a little lower than expected. I then mixed in honey till I hit the 1.070 mark. I made sure to use the wine whip for at least a minute every time I introduced honey. So now she sits up on the counter and I will whip her up 1 - 2 times daily on the wine whip for the next 4 - 5 days. An issue I was debating was will the yeast take off in the first place. SP is acidic already and when you swap sugar for honey it will be even more acidic. My last SP made with similar situation but with traditional sugar rather than honey took 30 hours to start fermenting real well. We shall see how long this one takes.
 
OK 39 hours after yeast pitch and no real visibly active fermentation. I have been whipping the must consistently to keep sediment from collecting at the bottom. I just whipped it up and it was a little more foamy than prior times. Was there just a little fermentation going on with some dissolved CO2 escaping? Well I will keep on whipping up and watch it closely.
 
Very interested to see how the honey and lemon flavors combine. By any chance, did you check the ph level of the mixture?
 
No but I am sure it is darn acidic lol. Honey is naturally around 3.5ish and Lemon juice is about 2.0ish. 1 TBS of black tea makes about 3 gallons a tea normally and that runs at about 5.2 on the PH scale. So many factors are working against my Yeast babies. If possible though I do not want to mess with the PH in hopes to preserve the natural refreshing tartness that Skeeter Pee normally has.
 
Ok the hurtle is crossed! At hour 43 I noticed the tea floating to the top of the must more and a small amount of bubbles on the surface. Now there is a nice foam of bubbles on the surface. Airlock not boiling yet but fermentation has definitely started. I'll keep whipping it night and day and will probably need to add the next round of nutrients and lemon in 3-4 days.
 
Arpolis said:
Ok the hurtle is crossed! At hour 43 I noticed the tea floating to the top of the must more and a small amount of bubbles on the surface. Now there is a nice foam of bubbles on the surface. Airlock not boiling yet but fermentation has definitely started. I'll keep whipping it night and day and will probably need to add the next round of nutrients and lemon in 3-4 days.

Using straight loose tea is an interesting choice. Have you done it before? I find that if I steep tea too long the resulting flavor is somewhat harsh. The hot water may contribute to this but I'm not sure. I've only ever used brewed tea for added tannins but this sounds like it could get the job done in a serious way. How's that fermentation coming? Any airlock activity yet?
 
Using straight loose tea is an interesting choice. Have you done it before? I find that if I steep tea too long the resulting flavor is somewhat harsh. The hot water may contribute to this but I'm not sure. I've only ever used brewed tea for added tannins but this sounds like it could get the job done in a serious way. How's that fermentation coming? Any airlock activity yet?

Last time I did a standard SP with normal ingredients I was out of grape tannin so used the 1 tbs black tea. For a 5 gallon batch it compliments well. My SP is crisp, refreshing with appropriate body. So I started doing this for all my mead an wine. No hot water just dump it in like dry hopping.

Airlock going like mad. I degassed and checked gravity yesterday at around 6PM and it was at 1.06. Should add additional lemon and nutrients tonite.
 
If you did that then it would be Skeeter Pee wine sweetened with honey, not Skeeter Mead. Mead is special where as wine is common. That is why we do it this way.

I can't wait to tast this side by side with my normal SP.
 
Feal free to join in and make yourself a batch of SP and back sweeten with honey. SP is one of the cheapest/best wines I have ever made. You just need an open carboy. :mug:

Atek you have been quiet. How is your mead doing? Anything exciting or do you just have a picture perfect ferment going?
 
Feal free to join in and make yourself a batch of SP and back sweeten with honey. SP is one of the cheapest/best wines I have ever made. You just need an open carboy. :mug:

Atek you have been quiet. How is your mead doing? Anything exciting or do you just have a picture perfect ferment going?

I have pretty close to a picture perfect ferment going lol, though I reckon (yes... I did just use that word) that's because I'm not adding my lemon until after ferment has finished.

I am so glad I kept two bottles of skeeter pee on hand to compare with, its been a real struggle to keep from imbibing those...

One thing that caught me with the honey back sweetened skeeter pee is that you could change the varietal honey to impart its characters and maintain a much lower cost than it would take to use that honey for the entire batch. I believe the honey would be more noticeable in standard skeeter pee than it would in a mead fermented with a different kind of honey. For example a batch of mead with 10lbs or so of one varietal is going to overpower the 3 pounds of fancy varietal used for back sweetening (not that it wouldn't still be tasty). Where fermenting on sugar then back sweetening with 3 pounds fancy honey would likely be more noticeable. Just a thought... As a side note to this I have two batches of mead going where I intend to test this, both were fermented on clover honey. One is just a standard mead that I am thinking of oaking, either way I plan to use acacia honey (also known as black locust honey) which is THE best honey I have ever had, which it'd better be for $20 for 1.3 lbs. The other is blackberry mead that I will be sweetening with tupelo.

As a full update I forgot to add my tannins at the start of ferment and added 3/4 tsp tannin powder today. Otherwise the ferment is still trucking, probably another week or two left.
 
Ok another update here, looks like the ferment is pretty much done. I'll be doing a gentle degass this evening or tomorrow and taking a gravity reading to be sure. If low enough I will add the lemon juice all in one go and sulfite. I'll then let it clear and sorbate at that time along with back sweetening.
 
Atek said:
Ok another update here, looks like the ferment is pretty much done. I'll be doing a gentle degass this evening or tomorrow and taking a gravity reading to be sure. If low enough I will add the lemon juice all in one go and sulfite. I'll then let it clear and sorbate at that time along with back sweetening.

As a mead, do you think this will be drinkable right away? I imagine with the back sweetening it should be
 
As a mead, do you think this will be drinkable right away? I imagine with the back sweetening it should be

Hop, I do not believe that will be the case no, however it is low ABV mead that is back sweetened and my opinion of drinkable may differ from yours. I do believe aging will bring this to a level if deliciousness that is legendary.... Another thing I have been thinking about is barrel fermenting this, perhaps impart that typical buttery chardonnay flavor, not sure though.

ACbrewer Depending on your lemon juice it will already have sulfate and sorbate in it... Real Lemon lemon juice only has sulfate in it.

My lemon does only have lemon juice, I have yet to take that reading and add the lemon but I promise I will get to it really soon, the yeast are starting to settle out and you can see it beginning to clear. I will not be adding sulfites until I'm ready to back sweeten at which point I'm sure I will have racked at least twice and I will then sulfite again as well. I figure the original recipe calls for stabilization on top of the sorbates already present in the lemon juice. I'll keep you all informed, expect gravity readings and images soon.
 
Alrighty then, so I've racked and added 96oz lemon juice. I forgot to take a reading before the laziness kicked in again so my apologies. I did take a picture though, it had quite some time until it clears I fear but I'll do my best to keep you all updated. I do believe that this is gonna be awesome stuff.

image-1057647635.jpg
 
I have no pics but mine is starting to clear and looks awesome. Gravity is bone dry right now at .998. I will probably rack off the lees here this next week which will degass this a bit and let it further clear more quickly. I'll keep you all up to date.
 
I racked again as I had quite a bit of sediment. S.G. Is right at 1. I tasted it and... Well it's not quite there yet, this is going to be better using an orange blossom honey, the clover is definitely identifiable and this young tastes a tad off with the lemon sour. Not bad mind you just could be better. This has not been back sweetened yet either so the lemon is mighty potent. Back sweetening and age will tell but if it ages like a mead this is gonna be hella good in 6 months, and amazing with more time.
 
Hey Arpolis, any updates? Mine is clearing up nicely, not clear enough yet but definitely getting there.
 
Not a whole lot. I have been super busy and have not done a thing with the mead........ So I got off my lazy ars and decided to rack this off the lees today. The mead is about 90% cleared at this point. I don't have the honey to back sweeten yet so will do that probably after next racking. I took a small taste and it was a little yeasty as expected. Nice and tart but not at the point where I was puckering but cheeks. And surprisingly very very smooth. Mead is normally horid at this age, hot with alcohol but my wife might actually drink this young without aging. The gravity looks to have settled at 0.992ish. I topped up with 50/50 real lemon juice and water. I actually racked twice, once into a spare 5 gallon water jug and then after cleaning back into my better bottle. All that stirring up should help this degass and drop out the rest of the yeast. About another month I bet and I can rack back sweeten.
 
Agreed on the smoothness, it's very interesting. Maybe the tart just masks the normal young mead astringency? I racked mine again today, it is almost crystal clear now, I'm guessing just a slight dusting of sediment will still form. I have not back sweetened this yet. Can't decide if I want to stick with clover or go with something more floral like a tupelo.

image-2544308943.jpg
 
Mine is not that clear just yet. I may give it a second racking cause I have about 1/4" of lees on the bottom. I'll post a pic after racking.
 
Back sweetened with 3.75 lbs honey today. Got surprisingly cloudy after that....
 
Sorry that I have ben so lazy and not posting pics but ill make it up tonight. I gave the Skeeter mead a second racking today to get off the fine lees and I stabilized and backsweetened with 3.5lb of honey. There was just enough I could not fit into the carboy to fill up a glass. Below is a pic of that to show how clear it is before sweetening. The carboy is after sweetening. Another month or so and it should be ready for bottles.

skeeter mead better bottle.jpg

skeeter mead Jar.jpg

Man I can not get over how smooth this young melomel is. I spooned in a little honey into the jar and it was really good. Oh man I can not wait for bottling day.
 
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